Tourism ready to bounce back after Yasi

Queensland's tourism operators say they may be down but they are not out after the devastating double-whammy of natural disasters in the past month.

The trail of destruction left across the state from the mammoth New Year floods, then category five Cyclone Yasi, has left thousands of people reeling and wondering what to do next.

Mission Beach was one of the hardest hit areas after Yasi tore through on Wednesday night, but Castaways Resort manager James Neville Smith is confident travellers will return to the area soon.

"Mission Beach is a mess; don't let me underestimate the scale of destruction in the area - there have been some horrendous stories," he said.

"But the reality is, more people are going to know where Mission Beach is today than two or three days ago; this cyclone has put us on the map.

"We were already making significant inroads into the international and domestic tourism markets ... we had a huge amount of promotion and exposure already in the pipeline before this event occurred.

"We'll be back on our feet in a couple of weeks. The forests will grow back at a rapid rate and we'll get off the ground here and just soldier on."

Tourism is set to take a big hit as extensive coverage globally and domestically threatens to deter tourists from booking holidays in disaster-affected areas.

Last week, before Yasi hit, the Federal and State governments announced $10 million for a Tourism Queensland advertising blitz.

CEO Anthony Hayes says the mission now is to get the message out domestically and internationally that much of Queensland is still open for business.

"We're now working with Tourism Australia to come up with a joint marketing plan as quickly as possible so we can get out on the front foot and say 'we want to welcome as many people as we can'," he said.

"Straight after the floods we put a $600k 'welcome back' ad campaign into Sydney and Melbourne to say 'you know what? Yep, there were floods but here's all the parts of the state that weren't touched'.

"We've had some bad press but it's still a fantastic place for a holiday.

"We also need to be very focussed on the intra-state market because we need to get Queenslanders thinking that the best way for them to support their mates is to holiday at home and support the local industry."

Support for small business

Mr Hayes says much of the industry in north Queensland is breathing a sigh of relief that the damage was not as bad as expected, so many businesses are still operational.

But there are still many small businesses who have been either directly or indirectly hit by the disasters and risk losing everything.

"There's 117,000 registered tourism businesses in Queensland; the vast majority of them are small business and they're scattered all through the state," he said.

"Most of them have five employees or less ... and they don't have big marketing budgets to go out and tell the story, so we need to do it for them and do it quickly.

"There are businesses who've already laid off staff or cut back their hours."

Queensland Tourism Council chief Daniel Gschwind agrees small business operators will be the hardest hit and is calling on financial assistance from Government to stop people from losing their jobs.

"They're just a bit punch drunk from one blow after another," he said.

"For some it means all income and business has stopped and that puts smaller businesses into very precarious situations.

"We have businesses that have been impacted directly and they need special attention and assistance.

"There are a few who have already thrown in the towel and ... there are many who simply do not know what to do next and how to survive.

"Plus, there are all those other businesses that benefit from and support the tourism industry: the butcher, the baker, taxi drivers, laundry services - they all depend on the dollars that flow from businesses."

Oprah effect

Oprah Winfrey's visit in December was expected to generate massive amounts of income for Queensland's tourism industry, but episodes of her show were aired to the world shortly after the floods hit, putting a devastating spotlight on Australia.

But Mr Hayes does not think the disasters will have a long-term impact on the way the world sees Queensland as a tourist destination.

"It's a month we would have preferred not to have. The coverage was fairly extensive overseas but I also think, particularly with the cyclone, it's the tropics and cyclones will always be there," he said.

"Plenty of other parts of the world have cyclones and hurricanes and it doesn't stop people from going to Florida or Asia.

"It's how we tell that story and we need to be very clear that the damage to infrastructure was minimal and that we're well on the way to cleaning it up."

Mr Smith from Castaways Resort welcomes any business as a result of the Government's cash injection into Tourism Queensland's advertising campaign, but he says the area has survived without it before.

"Every dollar's going to help but when you shotgun money into promoting a destination it's hard to measure the value of it," he said.

"Our region down south of Cairns hasn't really been promoted by the Government, period. But if there's ever a time when our region as a genuine destination in the tropical north needs a helping hand, clearly it's today and the coming few months."